Testimony begins in trial of man accused in Quincy man's death

BOSTON - Six witnesses, including one with immunity from the government, took the stand Monday as testimony began in the trial of Byran McElhinney in Suffolk Superior Court.

McElhinney, 24, of Dorchester is accused of killing Brian Hingston – a 45-year-old father of three from Quincy – by punching him once in the face in a Dorchester parking lot last year.

McElhinney is charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault and battery. Prosecutors said he punched Hingston in the mouth while Hingston was trying to break up a fight about 1 a.m. April 16. Hingston fell to the ground and hit his head in the parking lot, and he died hours later. Opening remarks in the trial were given on Friday and testimony is expected to last until the end of this week.

The witnesses described a night of bar-hopping and heavy drinking to celebrate the 30th birthday of McElhinney’s brother-in-law John Kindregan. The group of 25 people, including Hingston and McElhinney, took a “party bus” to multiple bars in Dorchester, Sharon and Plainville.

Those who testified Monday were all a part of the group that night. Much of their testimony revolved around the specifics of what each witness remembered. They were asked how much alcohol they had to drink at each stop, how long they were at each bar, how much they drank on the bus, where the bus parked to drop them off and perhaps most importantly, who threw punches and when.

Many of the witnesses testified that they drank between 10 and 20 beers that night.

For each witness, parts of their recollections matched, while other details differed.

The witnesses said they were all having a good time together for most of the night. However, the mood soured on their way back to Dorchester from Plainville, where they said Kindregan became “sloppy” and belligerent.

Kindregan began falling on top of people in the bus. Laran Hyder said he fell on a group of women multiple times and also seemed to be purposefully falling on one partygoer, Patrick “Paddy” Stones, to try to make him upset.

“People started getting fed up. It changed from being a fun party atmosphere to people not having tolerance for some of the drunkenness and some of the messiness,” said Hyder, 29, of Dorchester.

Unlike most of the witnesses, Hyder said she did not have a lot to drink that night.

“He was falling on Paddy Stones. From knowing Paddy, he’s probably a very serious man. He probably didn’t want to tolerate the behavior and John thought it was funny,” Hyder said. “He was elbowing Paddy.”

Stones was the first to take the witness stand on Monday and had been granted immunity by the government in exchange for testifying against McElhinney. He in turn would not face any assault and battery charges in fighting with Kindregan and McElhinney.

Despite having about 15 beers, Stones said he was not drunk and could recall much of the night.

He admitted that he struck Kindregan in the face when he would not stop falling on him inside the bus.

The two were quickly separated, but continued to “trash talk” at one another.

When they got back to Dorchester, things got physical again between the two when they got off the bus.

Stones said they both swung at each other and squared off one-on-one. At one point he said Kindregan fell to the ground. That was when McElhinney stepped in and punched Stones in the forehead, causing him to bleed.

Stones then turned to fight McElhinney and Hingston stepped in with his arms out had his sides trying to separate the two, Stones said. McElhinney punched Hingston in the face knocking him down.

After being questioned by Ham, defense attorney Michael Doolin began rapidly peppering Stones with questions.

“Your testimony was that you were sober after having 15 beers?” Doolin asked. “You had 15 beers that night. That didn’t affect your memory at all?“

Stones replied, “No.”

Stones said he left the scene after he saw Hingston was getting help from paramedics. He testified that he did not speak to police until he received a call later that night from a detective.

Doolin accused Stones of avoiding the scene and hiding in order to not have to deal with the police.

Testimony is expected to continue with more witnesses on Tuesday.

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